INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 31 This chapter contains a confirmation of the preceding prophecy, of the ruin of the king of Egypt, by the example of the king of Assyria, to whom he was like in grandeur and pride, and would be in his fall. The time of the prophecy is observed, Ezekiel 31:1, the prophet is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and Jeconiah's captivity: IN THE THIRD MONTH, IN THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH: the month Sivan, which began on the twentieth of our May, and answers to part of May, and part of June; this was about seven weeks after the former prophec... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF MAN, SPEAK UNTO PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT,.... To Pharaohhophra, the then reigning king; not to him personally by word of mouth, for the prophet was now in Chaldea; but by delivering out a prophecy concerning him, and which he might have an opportunity of sending to him: AND TO HIS MULTITUDE; th... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE ASSYRIAN WAS A CEDAR IN LEBANON,.... Here grew the tallest, most stately, broad and flourishing ones. This sense is, that he was as one of them; comparable to one, for his exaltation and dignity; for the largeness of his dominion, the flourishing circumstances of it, and its long duratio... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WATERS MADE HIM GREAT,.... The waters of the river Tigris, near to which stood the city of Nineveh, the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; the traffic brought by which river made it rich and great, and the whole empire, and the king of it: THE DEEP SET HIM UP ON HIGH, WITH HER RIVERS RUNNING... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HIS HEIGHT WAS EXALTED ABOVE ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD,.... His majesty, grandeur, and glory, were advanced above all princes, nobles, and people; all ranks and degrees of men, let them be compared to trees taller or lower: AND HIS BOUGHS WERE MULTIPLIED, AND HIS BRANCHES BECAME LONG; th... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVENS MADE THEIR NESTS IN HIS BOUGHS,.... People from all parts of the world, under the whole heavens, flocked to his dominions, and settled themselves in one province or another; promising themselves protection, prosperity, and peace under his government: AND UNDER HIS BRANC... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS WAS HE FAIR IN HIS GREATNESS,.... Amiable, lovely, delightful to look upon in the greatness of his majesty, in his royal glory and dignity: IN THE LENGTH OF HIS BRANCHES; in the extent of his empire, and the provinces of it: FOR HIS ROOT WAS BY GREAT WATERS; his kingdom was well established,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CEDARS IN THE GARDEN OF GOD COULD NOT HIDE HIM,.... That is, could not rise so high as this cedar, and overtop him, and obscure his glory; even those that were most excellent, which grew in Eden, near to which Babylon stood, and where a mighty king dwelt. The sense is, that the greatest kings an... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE MADE HIM FAIR BY THE MULTITUDE OF HIS BRANCHES,.... Or provinces, the extensiveness of his dominions: all his power and strength, riches and wealth, grandeur and glory, and the vast dominions he was possessed of, were all from the Lord; as whatever kings have are, though they are too apt to a... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... Having described the greatness of the Assyrian monarch; now follows the account of his fall, and the cause of it, pride: BECAUSE THOU HAST LIFTED UP THYSELF IN HEIGHT; this is either an address to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who, though he did not rise up so high a... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE THEREFORE DELIVERED HIM INTO THE HAND OF THE MIGHTY ONE OF THE HEATHEN,.... Or, into the hand of the mightiest of the nations o; the mightiest prince among them. Some understand this of Arbaces the Mede, by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodachbaladan k... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STRANGERS, THE TERRIBLE OF THE NATIONS, HAVE CUT HIM OFF,.... Cut off the boughs and branches of this cedar, and cut him down to the ground; that is, utterly destroyed him, his empire and monarchy: these "strangers" were the Medes, who lived in a country distant from Assyria; and "the terrible o... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON HIS RUIN SHALL ALL THE FOWLS OF THE HEAVEN REMAIN,.... Or, "on his fall" s; the fall of this tree: and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches as when a tree is cut down, and its lopped off branches and boughs lie here and there, either the birds and beasts that before dwelt in i... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE END THAT NONE OF ALL THE TREES BY THE WATERS EXALT THEMSELVES FOR THEIR HEIGHT,.... The end proposed by the Lord in the destruction of the king of Assyria, and the use to be made of it, is this; that the kings of the earth take warning hereby, who rule over a multitude of people, comparable t... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, IN THE DAY WHEN HE WENT DOWN TO THE GRAVE,.... The Assyrian monarch; when his monarchy was destroyed, and he ceased to be king, and was stripped of all his majesty, power, and authority, and was as one dead, and laid in the grave, and buried: I CAUSED A MOURNING: that is, f... [ Continue Reading ]
I MADE THE NATIONS TO SHAKE AT THE SOUND OF HIS FALL,.... As, when a large cedar was cut down and fell in Lebanon, the noise of it was heard at a distance; so when this mighty monarch and monarchy fell, the nations of the world, and the kings of them, heard of it far and near, and shook through fear... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ALSO WENT DOWN TO HELL WITH HIM,.... To the grave with him; many of his nobles, princes, generals, soldiers, and subjects: UNTO THEM THAT BE SLAIN WITH THE SWORD; to be buried and lie with them who had fallen by the sword, as a just punishment for their iniquities: AND THEY THAT WERE HIS ARM;... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM ART THOU THUS LIKE IN GLORY AND IN GREATNESS AMONG THE TREES OF EDEN?.... Among all the kings and potentates of the earth; pitch on whom you will, say which of them all, even the greatest of them for majesty and glory, for wealth and riches, power and authority, and extent of dominion, you a... [ Continue Reading ]